The clock is running down on Arsene Wenger’s career at Arsenal if reports from London Evening Standard are to be believed.

The paper claims the north London club have lined up the Italian mastermind Carlo Ancelotti as Wenger’s replacement.

Frenchman’s position at the club will be reviewed in May despite the fact Wenger penned a new two-year deal just last summer. Wenger arrived in London back in October 1996 and went on to become the longest-serving manager in English top flight, surpassing Si Alex Ferguson’s record of most games in charge of a top-flight side.

Despite his loyal service to the north London club, Wenger hasn’t won a major trophy since the 2004 Premier League title and with little to fight for this season – apart from the Europa League glory and Carabao Cup trophy – the club management is prepared to assess Wenger’s position.

Gunners have already commenced the restructuring process this season, having brought former Borussia Dortmund transfer guru Sven Mislintat as chief scout and Raul Sanllehi from Barcelona as head of football relations.

The club apparently wants to enter a new era and ‘reduce the dependency on the manager, thereby providing an additional degree of stability’ as stated in the Standard.

To put it differently, Arsenal are looking to lay strong grounds with new infrastructure and present Carlo Ancelotti with a system he is to be expected to build upon.

The Italian manager is seen as the perfect candidate to replace Wenger given his vast experience with the likes of AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.

Ancelotti is said to be keen on a move back to London where he was in charge of Chelsea in the past as well.